Becoming

Becoming by Michelle Obama, 426 pages

To paraphrase Cher, if I could turn back time, if I could find a way...I'd go back and get this book on UCPL's Best Books of 2018 list. Because this honest and revealing memoir deserves to be on there.

Over the course of this book, Obama gives an unflinching look at her life growing up on the south side of Chicago, going to Princeton and Harvard, becoming (and then becoming jaded with being) a corporate lawyer, falling in love with a laid-back guy from Hawaii, and becoming the First Lady. Throughout it all, she offers deep, honest soul-searching reflection on the roller coaster of her life to this point. It's so refreshing to hear her spell out her worries as a mother, her frustrations as a woman, her determination to be authentic on any stage, no matter how large. It's free of political analysis, even as she details her work on campaign trails and at political events, and her discussion of her husband's work as President are only mentioned where they specifically impact her initiatives or their family life.

All in all, this was a wonderful memoir that I can't praise enough. I also particularly loved the audiobook, read by Obama herself, which gave it added depth and the sense that she was telling this story just to me. There just isn't enough "wow" to describe this book. I loved it.